Huskers Take on Bulls in Cayman Islands Classic

The Nebraska men's basketball team looks to bounce back after a disappointing loss, as the Huskers take on South Florida in the third-place game of the Cayman Islands Classic Wednesday afternoon.
Tipoff between the Huskers and Bulls is slated for 4 p.m. (central) and fans can follow all of the action across the state of Nebraska on the Learfield-IMG Husker Sports Network with Kent Pavelka and Jake Muhleisen on the call. The game will also be available on Huskers.com, the Huskers app and TuneIn radio. The pregame show begins one hour prior to tipoff.

Fans can watch all of the Cayman Islands Classic action online, as FloHoops is video-streaming all 12 tournament contests with Scott Galetti and Kyle Youmans on the call. To sign up for a monthly subscription, visit FloHoops.com. It is available on laptops, desktops, laptop, tablet or mobile devices.

Nebraska (3-3) has a quick turnaround after an 85-66 setback to George Mason Tuesday evening. In that game, the Patriots shot 61 percent in the second half, and pulled away down the stretch after the Huskers got within six points with 11:15 to go. On the evening, Nebraska shot just 39 percent and was out-rebounded 49-26 in seeing their three-game win streak snapped.
 

GAME 7: Nebraska vs. South Florida Date:        Wed., Nov. 27 Time:        4 p.m. (CT) Location: George Town, Grand Cayman Arena:      John Gray Gymnasium   NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS 2019-20 Record: 3-2 Head coach: Fred Hoiberg     Record at Nebraska: 3-3 (1st year)     Career NCAA Record: 118-59 (6th year)   SOUTH FLORIDA BULLS 2019-20 Record: 3-3 Head coach: Brian Gregory     Record at South Florida: 37-39 (3rd year)     Career Record: 285-219 (16th year)   BROADCAST INFO Television: None Online Broadcast: FloHoops.com    Play-by-play: Scott Galetti                   Analyst: Kyle Youmans Radio: Learfield-IMG Husker Sports Network, including 590 AM (Omaha), 1400 AM (Lincoln) and 880 AM (Lexington)    Play-by-play: Kent Pavelka        Analyst: Jake Muhleisen Online Radio: Available on Huskers.com, Huskers App, TuneIn.com/Huskers and TuneIn App.

Dachon Burke led four Huskers in double figures with 14 points and a season-high five steals in a losing effort. Burke, who scored NU's first 12 points to keep the Huskers in striking distance, has been a solid contributor in his first season as a Husker, reaching double figures in four of the last five games. He is second on the team in scoring at 12.3 ppg and is tied for the team lead in steals with 1.5 spg per game. Burke's five steals against GMU was the most by a Husker since Thorir Thorbjarnarson had five in last year's Big Ten Tournament win over Maryland.

South Florida is 3-3 on the season following a 65-45 loss to New Mexico State in the semifinals. LaQuincy Rideau had 11 points but the Bulls shot just 34 percent from the field, including 5-of-16 from 3-point range. Rideau, the reigning American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year, is averaging 13.0 points and 3.3 steals per contest.  Junior guard David Collins joins Rideau in double figures, as he averages a team-high 14.2 points per game. Collins had a game-high 21 points in the first-round win over Loyola (Chicago).
 
NUMBERS TO KNOW 
3 - Nebraska and South Florida split the two previous meetings, a 65-60 Bulls win in Tampa in 2002, and a 75-52 Husker win in Lincoln in 2003. Nebraska is 17-24 all-time against teams from the American Athletic Conference.
 
4 - Double-digit performances from Kevin Cross, which is the most by a Husker freshman since 2016-17 (5-Jeriah Horne and 4-Jordy Tshimanga). Cross has averaged 12.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game during the Cayman Islands Classic.
 
5 - Three-pointers this season for Thorir Thorbjarnarson, as he is 5-of-10 from 3-point range. In his first two seasons, he went a combined 6-of-28 from long range.
 
9- Nebraska tied its season high with nine steals, which also happened in the double overtime loss to Southern Utah.
 
50- Returning point total from last season, all by Thorir Thorbjarnarson. That is the lowest by any power conference team since the 2009-10 season.
 
81.8 Nebraska's scoring average since the opening-night loss to UC Riverside. NU saw its streak of 80-point efforts end with a 66-point performance against George Mason\
 
LAST TIME OUT
Dachon Burke Jr. had 14 points to pace four Huskers in double figures, but Nebraska was unable to slow down George Mason in the second half as the Huskers fell 85-66 In the semifinals of the Cayman Islands Classic Tuesday evening.

George Mason (7-1) shot 60 percent in the second half, including 7-of-12 from 3-point range, to pull away from the Huskers down the stretch. The combo of Jamal Hartwell II and Jordan Miller combined for 43 points for the winners, as GMU shot 49 percent from the field, including 11-of-25 from 3-point range.

Haanif Cheatham had 13 points, while Kevin Cross (11 points) and Matej Kavas (10 points) came off the bench to give Nebraska a pair of double-figure scorers in the setback.

The Huskers trailed 45-30 early in the second half before Cheatham and Cross led the Huskers on a comeback. NU went on an 11-2 run to get within 47-41 after Cheatham's 3-pointer with 15:01 left. Nebraska continued to battle and was within 57=51 with 11:15 left after a Thorir Thorbjarnarson basket with 11;15 remaining, but could not complete the 3-point play to get Nebraska within five. George Mason responded with 3-pointers from Hartwell and Gonar Mar to quickly stretch the lead back to 12 with 10:27 left. The Huskers made one last run and was within 71-63 after Cam Mack's 3-pointer with just over six minutes remaining, but the Patriots put the game out of reach with seven unanswered points, taking a 79-63 lead after Javon Green's 3-pointer with 4:37 left, and NU was unable to pull within 15 the remainder of the contest.
 
STEVENSON DENIED NCAA WAIVER
Nebraska Athletics announced Nov. 26 that men's basketball player Shamiel Stevenson has been denied a waiver and will not be eligible to compete until the start of the 2020-21 season.  Stevenson, a junior guard/forward from Toronto, Canada, will have two full years of eligibility remaining beginning next season.

Nebraska's initial waiver request on Stevenson's behalf was denied.  NU also filed a request for reconsideration of the waiver, which was recently denied.  On Monday, Stevenson and NU staff participated in a telephonic appeal hearing; the appeal request has also been denied.

Stevenson will join fellow transfers Dalano Banton and Derrick Walker as being eligible for the start of the 2020-21 season.

"I am disappointed and hurting for Shamiel." Nebraska Coach Fred Hoiberg said. "We believed we presented a strong case on his behalf. We appreciate all the hard work that Jo Potuto and our Compliance staff put into advocating for Shamiel.

"Although this is a setback for Shamiel, we feel confident we can continue to provide him an opportunity to have a successful year developing alongside Derrick Walker and Dalano Banton. We had a similar situation in Ames with four sit-out transfers in my first season at ISU and every one of them made major contributions the following season in helping us start our run of NCAA tournament appearances."
Stevenson transferred to Nebraska in May of 2019 from Nevada after Head Coach Eric Musselman took the Arkansas head coaching position. Stevenson began his career at Pittsburgh, where he played as a freshman, as well as four games as a sophomore before transferring at the end of the 2018 fall semester. Stevenson averaged 8.0 points and 4.1 rebounds per game in 36 games at Pittsburgh, and did not play at Nevada.
 
WORTH NOTING
• Hannif Cheatham has played well during this week's tournament, averaging 16 points per game on 68 percent shooting and four rebounds per game. Cheatham has regained his 3-point touch, going 4-of-7 from beyond the arc after not hitting a 3-pointer in NU's first four games. Prior to this year, he was a career 37 percent shooter from 3-point range. Cheatham went over 900 career points with his final basket last night and is now 99 points away from 1,000 career points.

• Nebraska has put at least four players in double figures in each of the last four games since Nov. 15, while seven different Huskers have scored double figures through the first six games. Nebraska's five double-figure scorers against Washington State marked the first time the Huskers accomplished the feat since a win over Creighton last December.

• Nebraska has shot the ball better from 3-point range in recent games. The Huskers are shooting 45 percent from 3-point range over the last three contests, including 50 percent vs. Southern and Washington State, after shooting just 23 percent in the first three games of the season.
 
3-Point Improvement

Category	First 3 Games	Last 3 Games
3 Pt. Pct.	.231	.449
3-Pointers/Gm	6.0	10.3
Att./Gm	26.0	23.0

 
• Entering Wednesday's action, Kevin Cross is one of four true freshmen in the Big Ten averaging double figures, as he is at 11.0 ppg on 52 percent shooting. Cross has been in double figures four times, which eclipses the entire team total of double-figure performances by Nebraska freshmen over the past two seasons (2017-18 and 2018-19).

• Dachon Burke needs only 13 points to reach 900 for his career. Burke  has scored 14 points in each of his two games in the Cayman Islands. Burke's five steals against George Mason marked the fourth time he has had five or more steals in a game. He led the Northeast Conference with 2.1 steals per game at Robert Morris in 2017-18.

• Through the first six games, 78.5 percent of the Huskers' offense has come from players who were added in the offseason, including six of Nebraska's top seven scorers.

• Entering Wednesday's action, Kevin Cross is one of four true freshmen in the Big Ten averaging double figures, as he is at 11.0 ppg on 52 percent shooting. Cross has been in double figures four times in the last five contests.

• Cam Mack saw his streak of double-figure games end at five on Wednesday, but still leads the Huskers in scoring (13.8 ppg), assists (5.8 apg) and rebounding (5.0 rpg).